Perry narrows focus, adjusts to campusMichael Perry could never pick which sport he loved more, basketball or football, but his dedication to his studies at Arkansas Tech University (ATU) made the decision at least a little easier. Perry signed dual NCAA Division II scholarships to play football and basketball with the Wonder Boys during his senior year at Pottsville High School but had to drop basketball due to the workload associated with his nursing major. “It was just too much...

Patriots top Conway, win districtThe Russellville American Legion Post 20 Patriots won the district title on Monday with a 10-2 win over Conway at Tech Field. “That means we will be the No. 2 seed in the Zone Tournament behind Fort Smith,” Post 20 head coach Zach Hettinga said. The Zone Tournament, which combines the Patriots’ district with one from Northwest Arkansas, will begin on Friday in Cabot. Russellville (11-6, 5-3 Zone Three) scored seven runs in the bottom of the fi...

Cyclones football boosters to host Glow Run 5KThe Russellville Cyclones Football Booster Club will light up the evening with the third-annual Russellville Football Glo Run 5K on Aug. 5 to help raise money to support the Cyclones. Gina Skelton, who as a class representative for the the booster club, said the project began two years ago as a way to feed players before home games. “We started doing it so they wouldn’t be hungry before a game,” she said. “Games start at 5:30 or 5 p.m. and the...

Dickerson inducted into Hall of FameLITTLE ROCK — Former Russellville athletic director Jim Dickerson was inducted into the Arkansas High School Athletic Administrators Association (AHSAAA) Hall of Fame on Friday at the Hot Springs Convention Center. “It is a fantastic honor to be included with all the guys that have gone before and all the things they have done in getting the AHSAAA started through the years. Dickerson worked for the Russellville School District (RSD) from 1998...

Jones continues QB work at Lyon Cody Jones threw for more than 3,000 yards, broke two school records and tied another during his senior year as the Russellville Cyclones quarterback but did not record a single stat his freshman year at Lyon College. Jones, like the rest of the Scots, are rebuilding a football program that has been defunct since 1951. “It’s a unique situation,” Jones said. “But that has only made the bond between teammates even stronger. I’ve made a lot of re...

Two ATU anglers fish National ChampionshipSTEVENS POINT, Wis. — Evan Smith and Aaron Sarna will represent Arkansas Tech University (ATU) at the Carhartt BassMaster College Series National Championship today on Lake DuBay. The pair drove over 800 miles to reach the tournament, but their journey to qualify was even longer. The field of qualifiers is the largest in the history of the program, said B.A.S.S. College tournament manager Hank Weldon. The anglers represent 60 colleges and univ...

American Legion extends streak to fourJACKSONVILLE — Mark Moyer struck out 15 during the Russellville American Legion Post 20 Patriots fourth-straight win on Tuesday during a 7-1 romp over Jacksonville at Dupree Park. Russellville (9-5) trailed 1-0 heading into the fourth inning but scored three runs to take the lead. Post 20 added four runs in the top of the seventh and held Jacksonville scoreless in the bottom of the inning to set the final score. "We're getting more respectable...

Local coaches give back with speed campPOTTSVILLE — Twenty-six peewee football players ran wind sprints in the field near Rev. Thomas G. Morris Athletic Complex on Monday in an effort to improve speed and endurance for the upcoming football season. Mike Gailey and several other coaches offered the speed camp for free as a way to give back to the community. “I’ve always had a passion for sports and competing at a very high level,” Gailey said. “I wasn’t able to experience any of tha...

Dead period ends, teams resume playFootball programs across the state returned to the practice field on Monday after a two-week Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) enforced break known as “dead period.” During dead period, coaches are not allowed to conduct team practices, nor are they allowed to have contact at all with students. Clarksville head coach Eli Cranor described the first week back from break as “a baptism by fire” for the Panthers football players. “We probably f...

Keys to the United States' 5-2 win over Japan in the Women's World Cup finalRESTARTS The United States had a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks and scored its first two goals off restarts and three of its five. Carli Lloyd put the Americans ahead in the third minute off a grass-hugging corner kick from Megan Rapinoe, who appeared to surprise a Japanese team that on average is 2 inches shorter than the Americans and likely was expecting a ball in the air. Lloyd doubled the lead two minutes later when Lauren Holiday took a f...

The mysterious ‘R’ Club inquiryWhen I told my coworker, Ryan Smith, that I was going to spend some time in the morgue, he jumped out of his seat. "The morgue? Like, dead bodies?" "More like dead newspapers," I replied. Just through the front entrance, in a room behind the glowing green "The Courier" sign, are thousands of old newspapers, bound together and dusty like ancient tomes. We delve into this archive from time to time when we want to run an old photograph. This is w...

Duggers win High School Bass OpenJake and Josh Dugger spend a lot of time together. The twins can be found on the field with the Pottsville Apaches football team or on the court with the basketball team. But their favorite place to be found is on the water with rods, reels and lures, fishing for bass. The sport is more than a hobby for the brothers — it’s something they hope to do for the rest of their lives. They began fishing competitively with the River Valley Youth Fishin...

Former Razorback Tyler Spoon signs with Boston Red SoxFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Former University of Arkansas outfielder Tyler Spoon has signed a professional baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox. The university said Wednesday that Spoon signed after being selected in the 35th round of last month's Major League Baseball draft. He joins Razorback teammate Andrew Benintendi in the Boston organization after Benintendi signed Tuesday. Spoon hit .327 during the season with a team-leading 20 doubl...

New coaches, talented freshmen to add intrigue to SEC hoops Southeastern Conference basketball coaches are confident their league won't take a step back in the post-Billy Donovan era. Donovan left for the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder in April after leading Florida to two national titles and four Final Four appearances in his 19-year tenure. Donovan was replaced by Louisiana Tech's Michael White, one of four new coaches in the league. The other newcomers are Tennessee's Rick Barnes, Mississippi State's B...

Arkansas' McLeod, Campbell win Jamaican championships FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — University of Arkansas track athletes Omar McLeod and Kemoy Campbell have won national championships in Jamaica while Sandi Morris finished second in her event at the U.S. championships. McLeod won the 110-meter hurdles while Campbell won the 5,000 meter run at the Jamaican National Championships in Kingston, Jamaica. Morris placed second in the pole vault at the USATF Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

Former Razorback Benintendi signs with Boston Red Sox FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Former Arkansas Razorback outfielder Andrew Benintendi has signed a professional baseball contract with the Boston Red Sox. The university says Benintendi signed Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not immediately released. Benintendi was the seventh overall pick in the recent Major League Baseball draft after leading the nation with 20 home runs. He finished the season with a .376 batting average and 57 RBIs. He was name...

Post 20 falls to Morrilton, 4-1The Russellville Post 20 American Legion baseball team lost to Morrilton 4-1 on Monday at Tech Field. Russellville (2-4) took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning but gave up four unanswered runs in the bottom of the fifth-and sixth innings during the loss. "Morrilton is a good group," Post 20 head coach Zach Hettinga said. "They just beat us. Our biggest problem right now has just been getting games in. I mean, we haven't played a game in two week...

A Cyclone legend rememberedThe decade of the 1930s was a tough period for America as it struggled through the Great Depression. But the rough economic times, made even rougher by an extended drought that covered much of the western half of the country, in turn produced some of the best football players of any era. One such player was Russellville’s Firmon Woodson Bynum who would have turned 99 on Aug. 1. The son of a coal miner, Firmon Bynum grew up working in the mines...

RHS players thrive in All-Star contestRussellville Lady Cyclones head volleyball coach Cindy Jones has been busy. Last week, Russellville hosted a youth volleyball camp inside Cyclone Gymnasium. Jones attended the Arkansas Democrat Gazette’s All-Prep’s banquet on Saturday, before watching two of her players in the 2015 Senior All-Star game in Conway on Wednesday. Jones followed that by speaking during a coaching clinic in Morrilton on Thursday. “It’s been very busy,” she said. “Bu...